Lace fastening for corsets and the like



July 18', 1939. l. R. VERSOY LACE FASTENING FOR CORSETS AND THE LIKE Filed Feb. 5, 1938 Patented July 18, 1939 LACE FASTENING FOR CORSETS AND THE LIKE.

Irving It. Versoy, New Haven, Conn, assignor to The Berger Brothers Company, New Haven, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut Application February 5, 1938, Serial No. 88,909

2 Claims. (Cl. 2-39) This invention relates to lace fastcnings for corsets and the like, and more particularly to the construction of that portion of a corset, girdle or similar garment which contains the eyelets to receive the lace, whereby this portion of the garment will not only be made stronger but will be set in or recessed from the surface of the garment in order that the laces when in place do not project beyond this surface.

In the manufacture of corsets it has usually been the custom to secure the portions of the garment together by laces which extend from the edge of one portion to the edge of the other, and pass through eyelets formed in the edges of the garment portions. In the usual construction these eyelets are formed adjacent an edge portion of the garment, and it is common practice to place a stay or other stiffening member between the row of eyelets and the garment edge. The edges of the textile material forming the garment are usually turned under and sewed be yond the stay at the extreme edge of the garment to hold the stay in place. With such a construction the laces are threaded through the eyelets back of the stay, and thus come over the top of the stay at the outside of the garment, to cross over and pass above the stay on the mating section of the garment, to be inserted through the eyelets in that section. This often results in a bulky appearance of the clothing of the wearer at the line of lacings, for not only do the stays make the garment thicker at these points, but the laces pass on the outside of the stays, and thus increase this bulkiness. Moreover, in some instances, the line of lacings can be more or less followed through the clothing as the lacings protrude very definitely from the surface of the garment.

One object of the present invention is the elimination of the disadvantages above referred to, and the provision of a garment having lacing eyelets formed in a part of the garment which is set in or recessed from the general surface thereof, whereby the outer surface of the lacings will be substantially flush with the outer surface of the garment.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a corset or similar garment having adjacent the mating edges of separate portions thereof, separate strips or panels secured at the inner surface of the garment and therefore lying below the outer surface thereof, these separate panels containing facing eyelets whereby the laces, when in place, will lie below or substantially flush with the outer surface of the garment.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a corset, girdle or other garment for personal wear provided with improved means for receiving the laces to connect two portions of the garment together, the construction being such that, not only will the garment be stronger in order to withstand the pull of the laces, but the garment will be so formed that the laces will not protrude above the surface thereof.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is an elevational View of a portion of a garment embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is an inside View of the parts shown in Fig. l, and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 showing the manner of constructing the edge portion of one section of the garment.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention, I have shown a garment such as a corset, girdle or the like, comprising two sections Ill and II secured together by the laces l2, so that the garment may be adjustable for size with in limits permitted by the laces.

It will be noted, particularly from Figs. 1 and 3, that the laces are received in or are passed through eyelets [3 provided adjacent the edge of each of the sections it and ll. It will be observed, however, from the following description that these eyelets are not inserted in the body portion proper of the tWo sections, but are set in additional sections or panels projecting from the edges of these sections. This construction is more particularly shown in Fig. 3, where the section In of the garment is provided adjacent its edge with a stay or bone Hi, the material of the section I!) being doubled at the edge portion, as shown at l5, and having stitched thereto a double ply of material If) which passes around the bone M.

The panel or section which contains the eyelets I3 is shown at IT, and will preferably be made of inelastic textile material. At its outer edge this panel consists, in the particular form shown, of four plies of material, two of which are carried rearwardly of the bone I4. These two outer and inner plies are designated by the numerals l8 and I9, and it will be noted that the latter is folded over upon itself rearwardly of the bone I 4, and sewed to the body section of the garment by the line of stitching 2|]. At the front portion the four-ply section of the panel I! may also be secured to the body of the garment in front of the iii bone [4 by suitable means such as the stitching 2|. The panel [1 may, of course, be formed as an integral part of the main garment section, if desired.

It will be understood, of course, that the panels 11 extend over the entire length of the sections In and II, so as to be in appearance integral parts of these sections. Moreover, it will also be seen that the panel I! is set inwardly from the surface of the body portion I of the garment, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, so that it is depressed or set down below the surface of the garment. This provides that the laces l2, when threaded through the eyelets I3, will not lie above the surface of the garment, and the garment will not have the appearance of bulkiness at this point.

It will also be noted that the extreme outer edge of the panel I1 provides a pocket 22 for a small stiffening member or bone 23 beyond the line of the eyelets l3. The plies of material forming the panel section I! are passed around the bone 23 and are stitched together at 24, in addition to the line of stitching 2 I. The passing of these plies of material entirely around the bone 23 brings about a very strong construction, which prevents any tendency of the stiffening means to pull out or be distorted at any point where a particularly heavy strain occurs. It also prevents the eyelets from being pulled from the cloth of the section H, as these eyelets are set very closely to the edge of the bone 23. Therefore, any pull of the laces upon these eyelets will immediately be resisted by the bone 23, which will be held securely in the pocket 22 by reason of the plies of material being passed entirely around this bone instead of merely having their edges turned in and stitched together, as in the usual construction. The outward pull of the laces on the bone is, therefore, resisted by the two plies of material, instead of merely by a line of stitching, as in prior constructions.

In a front-lace corset the stiffening member 23 would preferably extend from the top of the garment to approximately the groin line, so that it would extend over the area of greatest strain upon the laces. Below this stiffening member the strain upon the laces would be resisted by the folds of the material and the stitching. In a back-lace corset the stiffening member or bone 23 would naturally be longer, and could, if desired, extend from the top to the bottom of the garment.

Moreover, it will be noted that the eyelet panel I! projects from the under surface of the garment rearwardly of the stay or bone [4, so that the surface of this section is considerably depressed from the outer surface of the garment section, and that the laces I2 will normally lie below, or at least flush with, the surface of the garment sections and not protrude above this surface. It will, of course, be understood that the eyelet panels of the garment may be constructed in this way wherever used, that is, upon both sides of the usual opening in a corset or girdle, and if more than one lace opening is employed, as is sometimes the case, similar eyelet panels may be employed for all the openings.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a corset having adjacent sections secured together by laces, each of said sections being built up in thickness adjacent its edge and being provided with a stiffening member underlying said thickened edge portion and thereby disposed inwardly from the outer surface of the section, a panel member secured at the inner face of the stiffening member of each section, said panel members projecting from the edges of said sections toward each other and being provided with eyelets, laces in said eyelets connecting said sections together, said panel members being thus disposed a substantial distance inwardly from the outer surface of the thickened edge portions, and the laces lying below a plane passing through the outer surface of said edge portions whereby a garment worm over the corset will lie smoothly over said laces.

2. In a corset having adjacent sections secured together by laces, each of said sections being built up in thickness adjacent its edge and being provided with a stiffening member underlying said thickened edge portion and thereby disposed inwardly from the outer surface of the section, a panel member secured at the inner face of the stiffening member of each section, said panel members projecting from the edges of said sections toward each other and being provided with eyelets, laces in said eyelets connecting said sections together, said panel members being thus disposed a substantial distance inwardly from the outer surface of the thickened edge portions, and the laces lying below a plane passing through the outer surface of said edge portions whereby a garment worn over the corset will lie smoothly over said laces, and the material of the sections being passed over the outer surface of the stiffening members whereby when the garment is stretched the resulting tension is carried by the outer portion of said thickened edges.

IRVING R. VERSOY. 

